Find Out Where Santa is Right Now with NORAD Santa Tracker 2011

The holidays are full of annual traditions. For many that includes checking out the tree at Rockefeller Center or kissing under the mistletoe. But for us techie kids, there is one annual holiday tradition that is especially near and dear to our hearts – and that is tracking Santa via the NORAD Santa Tracker.

NORAD is a military organization whose day to day responsibilities include watching the skies and waterways of the U.S. and Canada in order to keep them safe. But every Christmas eve, NORAD uses their radar, satellites, Santa Cams and even fighter jets to track Santa Claus as he makes his way around the globe. According to USA Today, this is the 56th year that NORAD will be providing their Santa tracking service. They even have over 1,200 volunteers ready on stand-by to answer phone calls at their call center. Last year, NORAD logged over 80,000 calls and the NoradSanta.org site received over 15 million visitors. The excitement all starts at 3AM on Saturday in Virginia, but thanks to the good old internet, kids from all over the world can join in on the fun.

Back in 2008, NORAD got even more high tech by partnering with Google Earth as tool to use for an even more visual way to let kids track down Santa. This year kids have yet another way to find out where Santa is right now, by using the official NORAD Tracks Santa app, which is available for the iPhone and Android devices. The apps also come with an Elf Toss game. Alternatively, kids can also follow Santa by using Google Maps for mobile by searching for [santa]. Good luck tracking him down, your house is probably next on his list but only if you have been good.